Mek'leth
A mek'leth was a traditional Klingon bladed weapon. While Klingons often carried disruptors, they prefered to use bladed weapons in combat, with the two most common ones being the mek'leth and the bat'leth. ( ) Design The mek'leth was described as "a two-pronged dagger" that was "typically used to slash the throat or disembowel." ( ) Captain owned several Klingon blades, including a mek'leth. Ellen Landry wanted to use it to cut off the claws of "Ripper", but she was killed by the creature. ( ) Jadzia Dax thought that, although the mek'leth was better in some ways, she still preferred the longer reach of the bat'leth. She later practiced with a mek'leth. ( ) History During the Battle of the Binary Stars, T'Kuvma used a mek'leth to battle Captain Philippa Georgiou aboard the starship Sarcophagus in 2256, eventually stabbing her to death with it. ( ) When Michael Burnham challenged to a duel in order to buy time for the to complete its readings of the Sarcophagus cloaking device, he tossed her a mek'leth. ( ) Worf occasionally favored the smaller (and easily concealable) mek'leth instead of the larger, bulkier bat'leth. ( ) Worf often used his mek'leth to fight the Jem'Hadar, such as those on Vandros IV and on Soukara. ( ) He also concealed his mek'leth on his EV suit during a spacewalk on the hull of the , tucked into the suit's belt at the small of his back while in orbit around mid-21st century Earth. He used it to kill one of several Borg drones that had been building an interplexing beacon on the ship's deflector dish. ( ) In an alternate timeline on Gaia, Worf's descendant Brota inherited his ''mek'leth. In this timeline, he had once used it to kill a yar-bear.'' ( ) The mirror universe claimed that he had once stolen a mek'leth from his Klingon guard and had then used it to deactivate the sensor alarm of a cell in which he had been held. ( ) One of the Klingon holograms in a simulation used by the Hirogen wore a mek'leth while singing Klingon drinking songs at a campfire. Later, some Klingon holograms used their mek'leth's to attack the Nazi holograms. ( ) Appendices Background information Dan Curry created the mek'leth at Michael Dorn's request when he joined Deep Space Nine in . Dorn wanted a weapon that was easier to wield. The final design was based on a Himalayan blade, a Northern Tibetan cavalry sword. However, the ergonomics of the weapon were specifically designed for Dorn's mass and hand size. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion; A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager) This original sword inspiration appears to be the Nepalese kora. The mek'leth from was created in Toronto, Canada. It was made from hand sculpted high-density foam. That sculpt was subsequently converted into a 3D model and milled out of aluminum. The blade's elaborately detailed surface was hand carved from a poured resin. The weapon's handle was also hand carved from foam and then cast in resin. ("Star Trek Exhibition" at screening, Millbank Tower, London, UK, ) One of these mek'leth props was featured at in Blackpool, UK, and is now on a world tour. External link * de:Mek'leth Category:Klingonese Category:Hand-held weapons